Testing
by blackbird01
Summary: A quick oneshot involving Lorelai and a home pregnancy test.


**Author's Note: **Just a quick story about a subject close to my heart. Those three minutes really can take forever.

She swore the timer on her microwave had actually slowed down–there was no way three minutes could really take that long. Lorelai was sitting nervously at her kitchen table staring at the seconds tick away while a very important test developed upstairs in her bathroom. She figured she was safer down in the kitchen–if she stayed in the bedroom she would be tempted to look before the full three minutes was up. Her mind raced while she waited and her thoughts wandered back to the all important pregnancy test she took all those years ago as a teenager.

Back then, she certainly wasn't hoping for a second pink line. Back then she was a rebellious and scared 15-year-old girl who couldn't wait to get out of her parents' house. Waiting the required time with that test had seemed like an eternity, too, but for entirely different reasons. She was nervous about telling her parents, telling Christopher, facing her classmates. But most of all, she was terrified of becoming someone's mother. She knew nothing about motherhood back then and certainly didn't have the best example growing up. When she saw the positive result, she felt faint from shock and then burst into tears.

Today was a totally different story. For the first time in her life, she wanted that second line. She'd wanted it for months. Although she and Luke were still newlyweds, they'd decided to give it a go right away, not wanting to waste any more time. After all, neither of them were getting any younger. Every month she'd jumped the gun, buying a pregnancy test a few days before she was even late. Her reasoning was that every early pregnancy test advertised results "up to five days before your missed period," so they must be right. Every month she'd come up with one pink line and a few days later gotten her period. After last month's negative test, she'd told Luke she wasn't going to buy any more–she was going to wait until she was at least a week late before taking another test. Although she did wait longer than previous months, she didn't totally hold true to her word. At two days late she raced out to Woodbridge and bought a test. She couldn't bear to see the look on Luke's face at another negative result, though, so she decided to take it alone while he was working at the diner. Although Luke was comforting and positive at each single lined-test, the sparkle went out of his eyes and it broke Lorelai's heart every time.

She'd told herself that she would be patient–she was 40 after all, so it might take some time. Plus she definitely wouldn't mind all the trying. She bought prenatal vitamins, cut back a little on the caffeine (much to Luke's complete shock) and said that she'd just let nature take it's course. But Lorelai had never been known for her patience and nature just wasn't working fast enough for her. Every headache and stomach issue was flagged in her mind as a possible pregnancy symptom. Every baby magazine she passed or store she went into that happened to have baby clothes became a sign of things to come. Only now did she understand why people went crazy with infertility issues.

Part of the reason for her temporary insanity was her desire to give Luke a child. She certainly wanted to have a baby with Luke, too, but she couldn't help but feel guilty for the delay in the start of their family. The end of their engagement had been caused by both of them, but she'd made getting back together infinitely more difficult by running to Christopher. It was a miracle they'd reconciled as quickly as they did. And even if things didn't work out, she would always have the memory of raising Rory. She might regret the loss of raising a child with a partner, but she'd gone through all of it once. Luke hadn't. He'd missed out on the first 13 years with April and Lorelai desperately wanted Luke to experience being a father to a baby and a toddler and a child, not just a teenager.  
Then she started on the "what ifs." What if she had noticed Luke a couple years before the opening of the Dragonfly? They could already have a kid if she hadn't been so blind to what was right in front of her. What if she hadn't gone to Christopher that awful night? They might have gotten back together months earlier if she hadn't gotten married and she could already be in the middle of a pregnancy. What if she had really talked to Luke about how miserable she was to be left out of his life with April? Could they have avoided the break up of their engagement altogether?

That was a dangerous line of thought and thankfully Lorelai's attention shifted when she noticed there were only 30 seconds left on the timer. She sat on the edge of her chair as the seconds ticked down and at 10 seconds left decided to head upstairs. After all, it would take at least 10 seconds to get to the bathroom, right? She sprinted into the bedroom, jumped over a pile of clothes and lunged for the test. The standard first line was definitely there, bright pink and taunting her, but at a closer look, something appeared to be next to it. Looking carefully, she could swear she saw a faint second pink line. She knew that any line at all meant she was pregnant, but this was really faint. She tilted the test in the bathroom light, trying to look from every angle. The light second line was still there. She still wasn't sure, though. She cursed the test and cursed herself for taking it alone before she raced back downstairs, threw the test in a plastic baggie and ran out to the Jeep, heading full steam to the diner.

When she burst through the diner door, she noticed it was pretty crowded. No matter, though–Lorelai was on a mission. When she didn't immediately see Luke behind the counter, she frantically asked Zack where he was. He simply shrugged his shoulders since he was in the middle of taking an order and went back to his job. This led Lorelai to call Luke's name, loudly, throughout the diner, much to the amusement of the Stars Hollow regulars sitting around her. Luke emerged from the back carrying several plates and looking at his wife like she was crazy. After calmly delivering the orders, he turned to Lorelai to ask what was wrong.

"I need to talk to you now–upstairs," she said hurriedly.

"Can it wait a minute? We're really swamped down here."

"No, now," she insisted, grabbing his hand and literally dragging him upstairs.

"Someone better be dead or dying," Luke said when they got upstairs, taking back ownership of his hand.

Lorelai didn't say a word and simply handed him the clear plastic baggie with the test inside. Luke took the bag and just stared at it in silence.

"Well, do you see anything?" Lorelai asked impatiently.

"Yeah, I do," Luke responded quietly.

"Are you sure, because I couldn't tell at home and …" she rambled.

Luke interrupted her by simply flipping the test over so Lorelai could see. In the few minutes since she'd left home, the second line had gotten darker. It was still light but now definitely noticeable.

"So does this mean you're …" Luke began, unable to finish his question.

"The box says it's 99 accurate," Lorelai responded with a grin.

"Come here," he said, grabbing her by the waist.

They kissed passionately out of happiness and relief. Despite all the times they had screwed up their relationship, they were finally going to get it–the whole package.

That afternoon held a lot of firsts for Lorelai Gilmore. For the first time she was happy about a positive pregnancy test. For the first time she had a real partner to share the news with. For the first time she didn't have to worry about "breaking the news" to anyone. And for the first time Lorelai smiled when she felt a pang of queasiness.


End file.
